ATV's and Quads

[Charlieh]

what are people running in the way of quads for work purposes, I have been out using my '97 honda trx250 today and i think its nearing the end of its useful life, especially as the bottom end appears to be leaking oil into the trailer on the way home, although i have earnt today nearly what i payed for it 4 years ago so it doesnt owe me anything.

 

I have always used hondas, but after a lot of hard work on them, i wonder if the aircooled system is not great, they get roasting hot if working with a load for a long time, although i do like the fact they are normally so easy to work

 

so what are other peoples thoughts,

[Andy Collins]

The new 420 Honda Foreman is meant to be excellent, as was its predecessor the 350. The 420 version is LC, so should be less of a worry.

[Parker]

I use a Kawasaki klf300 at work and is good for the things we use it for . Considering getting a UTV aswell....any one had any experience with these?

[josharb87]

used to work with 7 quads-all semi-auto hondas, two 450 and 5 green 550s with winches, brilliant machines. all road reg'd and on dual fuel-gave a couple of running problems on a few of the bikes, but nothing major

got abused but never broke-riding into dykes was a gegular occourance-winch out, drain air box, drive back to yard, and change milky oil!

personally, wouldnt want anything under 450 or over 600

[Stephen Blair]

i have had 2 yamaha 400 kodiaks and a suzuki 500. the yamahas are excellent in automatic but the single spring at the back makes them pretty unstable on side slopes. but i never worked these bikes hard, but cant fault either really

[samarb]

Hey, picking up a hobnda 350 four track end of nest week will llet you know how we get on with it, went with the smaller one as size may be more practical for what we do.

[Andy Collins]

Hey, picking up a hobnda 350 four track end of nest week will llet you know how we get on with it, went with the smaller one as size may be more practical for what we do.

 

I really liked the 350 Fourtrax, excellent machine, did everything I wanted and well. Only thing it could do with is switchable 2-4WD.

[tractor10_0]

I have a Kawasaki KVF 650. It is also l/c. and is twin pot. It has a lot of power for towing. I would have a look at one

[Charlieh]

i have ridden kawasaki's for work in the past mostly the klf300s for slug pelleting so have hundreds of hours experience on them, and whilst they are a nice bike for riding for long periods i didnt get on that well with them for hauling loads.

 

I recently rode a kvf360 and have to say it was flipping awfull, especially at low speeds noisy and vibrated like crazy which isnt great if i get more reseeding and flailing work where you are generally only doing between 5-10kmh, also didnt like the seat which seemed very high and unbalanced for the bike.

 

worried about the fuel economy on the bigger bikes, i ran the trx250 allday yeasterday reseeding and rolling and used about 4litres of fuel! although that said using 15litres a day isnt going to break that bank really.

 

tempted to look at the honda 500 foreman, liquid cooled, CVT transmition with the electric shift option, and selectable 2/4 wheel drive, but not cheap. The way my shoulders feel as well i think power steering would be nice

[Andy Collins]

I've found that the 500 is better on fuel economy when working it hard, towing extracting and so on, but not so economical on road work. Tyre-wise, I've now had mudrunners on the rear and they are superb, traction and wear, but the Dunlop KT402s on the front are utter crap. I'll be fitting Wings up front in future, 6ply and much harder wearing and better in the slippery stuff, doesnt matter how much power you have if you cant put it down thru the tyres!